Cold

by Skyler Snow

Amadeo sighed. "Romare was stolen when he was sixteen. We looked everywhere for him, so did Dad. But we could never find him. Apparently, he was with the Russians all that time. Look at him; he's..." He trailed over as his gaze flickered over to Romare then back to me again. "Fragile. And in danger. I don't trust anyone else to keep him safe."

Sergei was familiar. I vaguely remembered a time when we didn't get along, but that felt like decades ago. He could be cruel and grumpy, but Sergei loved me. He told me that every single day. It was better to be loved than to be hated and retrained.

I smiled at him. "Thank you. You're cranky, but you're nice, Vito." The man growled. "Take that back." I laughed. "Nope!" Vito Bianchi was a scary man, but...not to me. There was more to him than what met the eye and even though he put on such a terrifying facade, he was being nice to me in ways that no one had in years. And I was becoming addicted to that feeling.

Romare’s sweet giggle tugged at my heartstrings. “You were worried about me?” “Go to sleep,” I growled. That only pulled another laugh from his lips. Romare’s joy was like music to me; inviting and soul-repairing. I held onto him tightly as I smoked my cigarette. How the hell was I ever supposed to let him go.

“You’re always good,” I assured him. “But I want you to be careful because I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re too precious for that.” “I’m precious?” he whispered. My heart skipped a beat and left me breathless. “Very precious to me.”

I choked and nodded. “Sergei didn’t just escape before you found me,” I said. “He told me to kill you and your family, get any information I could, and then he would be back to get me.” My eyes clouded. “That was always the goal. None of this,” I whispered. “And how long was that your plan? Are you still going to kill me?”

“Why couldn’t I have known you a lot sooner? I wouldn’t be so screwed up.” I shrugged. “Maybe we weren’t meant to meet each other before now. Besides, you were really fucking young just a few years ago.” Romare barked out a laugh. “That’s right, I always forget you’re super old.” “I will rub your face into sand,” I said seriously. The sound of Romare’s laughter filled the beach and I knew my threat had gone in one ear and out the other. He wasn’t afraid of me. And I loved that about my boy.

I laughed. “Really, it’s nice that you have a family. And I’m happy to be a part of it. So can you stop moping now and believe them when they say they love and miss you? Or are you going to be a stubborn old man forever?” He wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll be stubborn until the day I die,” he said and I groaned.